Prepare To Be Amazed

Illusionists bring magic you’ve never seen before

JOCELYN MURPHY

NWA Democrat-Gazette

The show the Toronto Sun calls “Dramatic, genius, death-defying and laugh-out-loud funny,” The New York Times deems “A high-tech magic extravaganza,” and the Daily Telegraph in Sydney, Australia says is “Deliciously, self-knowingly over the top and brain-bendingly spectacular — genuinely satisfying family entertainment that should not be missed,” takes over the Walton Arts Center stage for two performances Oct. 17 and 18.

“The Illusionists — Live from Broadway” is the world’s best-selling magic show and a delight for the whole family as five incredible illusionists share their talents from the stage and down among the audience.

“Much of the magic that’s done is done right in the audience among our guests and, even though it’s maybe very small type of magic that’s done in your hands or somebody say holding a card, it’s projected on the screen so that even if you’re at the back of the room, [it’s] right in front of your face,” explains Jeff Hobson, known by his stage persona as The Trickster.

“The very essence of magic makes people doubt. They see miracles in front of their face and they’re going, ‘No way did that happen.’ The interaction is almost necessary in magic to let people understand that what happened really happened.”

The show is 90 percent showmanship and 10 percent magic, Hobson quips. With each of the five performers bringing their own unique skill sets and performance styles to the show, Hobson says he looks at the group like the Avengers of magic. There’s The Trickster, The Grand Illusionist, The Manipulator, The Daredevil and The Mentalist, all coming together to create an engaging and larger-than-life variety show.

Photo courtesy Danielle Baguley“The Illusionists” comprises five diverse magicians who each specialize in a different style of magic — each of which is suitable for the whole family.

“The sad thing about magic is there are some tricks that are very easy to do — you just have to move the prop and point. The person that gets in the box, they do all the work, right?” Hobson muses. “But today, magic has evolved where everything’s much more clever. You have to be much more daring because everyone’s trying to top each other, and the internet’s exposing everything, so you’ve got to be one step ahead.

“I think there is a lot of magic you’ve never seen before” in this show, Hobson goes on. “We have our separate characters and we do things that just normal magicians haven’t done before. So the originality is one. No. 2, a lot of people don’t realize this is also a family show. We interact with children as well as adults — we get them all involved. And I guarantee that you will love the show. It seems like magic is a universal language and everybody likes the idea of seeing something amazing. We think we know everything nowadays. it’s good to be able to watch something and go, ‘Wow, I don’t know everything.’ It keeps us grounded. “